CBRE Hotels Dublin has confirmed the sale of the Lough Erne Resort – the 5 star luxury hotel and golf resort – to a U.S. investment group led by Vine Avenue Advisors, LLC, which is headed by Michael Saliba, and TRU Hotels and Resorts, a hotel investment and management company founded by veteran American hoteliers Jeff Mahan and Mark Ward. TRU have been appointed to oversee the management of Lough Erne Resort.
CBRE Hotels were instructed by Mr John Hansen and Mr Stuart Irwin, KPMG, Joint Administrators of Castle Hume Leisure Ltd (as agents to the company without personal liability) to bring Northern Ireland’s only 5 Star Resort to the market in May 2013 to take advantage of the strong interest being shown by the international investment market. The instruction was to offer the hotel for sale by private treaty and, most importantly as a going concern, thus protecting all current employment at the property post any sale.
Jewel in the crown
The Lough Erne Resort, boasting c. 345 acres (139.7 ha), is truly the “Jewel in the Crown” of the beautiful Fermanagh Lakelands Region and is superbly located on its own peninsula between the breathtakingly beautiful shorelines of Lough Erne and Castle Hume Lough, just 5 minutes from the historic town of Enniskillen.
This exceptional project, which successfully hosted the June 2013 G8 World Leader’s Summit, began life when the Castle Hume Golf Course was acquired in 1999. The adjoining lands were acquired in subsequent years and work began on the Lough Erne Resort development in 2005. The Hotel and 25 Loughside Lodges – comprising 120 rooms & suites – were fully completed and opened for business in September 2007. The first 9 holes of the signature Faldo course were open for play in 2008 and the full course opened in late 2009. The Resort was completed in stages between 2007 and 2009.
World class facilities
This unique property boasts world class facilities including dedicated Conference & Banqueting space for 400 people, 5 excellent food and beverage outlets and the only authentic, wholly Thai Spa in the UK and Ireland.
The complex has two championship golf courses – the Castle Hume and the signature Faldo course – two floodlit driving ranges and the Lough Erne Golf Academy which is a state of the art practice and tuition facility. The Faldo Series Grand Finals took place in Lough Erne between 2010 and 2012 and numbers a certain Rory McIlroy amongst its past champions. The Faldo course is already in the top 100 golf courses in the UK and Ireland as ranked by the prestigious Golf Monthly. The Lough Erne has recently been selected to host the 2017 Irish Open golf tournament.
The sale also included 25 substantially completed holiday homes (a mix of 3, 4 and 5-bed units) within the Golf Village, close to the Resort’s main entrance. Planning consent is in place to develop another 19 of these holiday homes.
Key features of the Lough Erne Resort
- Northern Ireland’s most high profile and only 5-star Resort destination, conference, leisure and wedding venue.
- Exceptional location with multiple revenue generators from Golf, Weddings, Conference, Functions, Leisure Breaks and Special Events
- 2 championship golf courses, one of which was named a top 100 golf course in the UK and Ireland by the prestigious Golf Monthly.
- 120 rooms & suites, as well as 25 Loughside Lodges
- 5 excellent food and beverage outlets
Paul Collins, Executive Director, Head of Hotels Ireland, commented:
“The sale of this magnificent resort has provided the purchaser with a truly unique opportunity to further establish it as one of the foremost conference, wedding, golfing and leisure destinations in Ireland and Britain. There was tremendous interest in Lough Erne, particularly after the resort hosted the G8 Summit. The enquiries we received were truly international with particularly strong interest from Chinese buyers. In the end the hotel was sold to as US based buyer who recognized Lough Erne’s enormous potential.”
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